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White Plains Police Officer Who Used Racial Slur Before Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain is Suspended

AMY GOODMAN: We turn to news in the police killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, the 68-year-old African-American Marine vet who was shot dead inside his own home in White Plains, New York, last November. The police were called to Chamberlain’s apartment this past November after he accidentally set off his LifeAid medical alert pendant. He was a heart patient. Democracy Now! has reported extensively on the case. The police came to his home because LifeAid called them.
In a key development, one of the officers dispatched to the scene, Officer Stephen Hart, has been suspended without pay and now faces departmental disciplinary charges. Hart was presented with the charges Friday, has until July 30th to respond. Public Safety Commissioner David Chong would not state the specific charges against Hart, who is also a defendant in a separate federal police brutality lawsuit stemming from earlier incidents. But if found guilty, Chong said Hart faces penalties ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the police force.
In the Chamberlain case, Officer Hart is accused of hurling a racial slur at Chamberlain during the incident. Listen carefully to this audio released by the White Plains Police Department from the morning Kenneth Chamberlain was shot dead by police officers. You can hear Officer Stephen Hart banging on Kenneth Chamberlain’s window and using the N-word as Chamberlain repeatedly says, "Don’t do that" and "I’m OK."
KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN SR.: Don’t do that, sir. Don’t do that. Don’t do that, officer. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. Do not do that! I’m telling you I’m OK!
OFFICER STEPHEN HART: Open up the damn door, n-----!
KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN SR.: I’m telling you I’m OK!
OFFICER STEPHEN HART: [inaudible]
KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN SR.: I’m telling you I’m OK.